A Long Way from Home
by everlovingdeer
Summary: "I need to say this." He let out a deep breath, still not raising his eyes from his plate of food, "It all made me realise that at any moment, anything could happen to us. We could be here one minute and gone the next and I realised that my biggest regret would be that I let you go that day without fighting for us." "Charlie, please –"
1. A Long Way from Home

The reserve that was to be my home for the next year or so, was horrendously understaffed in terms of healers. The number of non-medical staff on the reserve was in the hundreds, and yet the medical team was made of only five healers. Six, with myself included. I could quickly see myself becoming run down by the amount of work I'd be doing but, I reminded myself that I had signed up for this. This was a decision that I had made myself and I was going to stick to it. Keeping that in mind, I made my way around the medical cabin which was far larger and more well-equipped than I had expected it to have been.

"Healer Hill," a voice called out and I briefly paused in assessing the supplies within the ingredients cupboard.

Turning to face the younger man approaching me, I raised an inquisitive eyebrow, "Yes, Hopkins?"

"You wouldn't happen to have seen where I put the newest shipment of Blood-Replenishing potions?" He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "I can't remember where I put the crate down."

"Hopkins," I let out a deep breath, refusing to let myself get worked up over yet another one of his mistakes, "I suggest you search for the missing crate or I'll make sure you stay back every night for the next two weeks to sterilise all of the equipment. Do you understand?"

"Yes ma'am." He didn't lose his sheepish smile as he shuffled away to look for the missing crate of potions.

Godric help that boy. I watched him walk away with narrowed eyes. He'd freshly left Hogwarts and had signed up to do his healer training here in bloody Romania and kept making the most ridiculous mistakes every day. But, he still had the makings of a healer deep inside of him. I'd just have to bring that part out of him.

As I turned back to the ingredients cupboard, I continued to keep stock of the ingredients, making a brief note of what else we needed. A knock on the door of the cabin interrupted me mid-process.

"I'm looking for the new healer?" The voice was overwhelmingly familiar and the butterflies in my stomach was something that I had become used to. Merlin, I'd have the luck of picking the reserve that _he_ worked in.

"That would be me, Charlie," I said after I'd gathered myself enough to turn around and face the man.

His eyebrows rose a little in surprise at the sight of me but he quickly regained himself. "I had no idea that you were working at the reserve."

"I had no idea that _you_ were working at the reserve," I shot back, growing aware of the eyes of the rest of the medical team that had grown very interested in our conversation. Turning my back to him, I pretended to continue my assessment of the supplies.

"So, you didn't come here to search me out then," he teased and I was glad for it. The more he shifted into becoming like his usual self, the more I could relax around him.

"Did you need anything from me?" He walked towards me, standing beside me as he looked down at me. Ignoring the eyes on me, I made a note that we needed more moonstone powder. "I'm supposed to be meeting with the head Dragonologist."

"Well, he's standing right beside you, love." He chuckled slightly when I glanced curiously up at him. "There's no need to look so surprised."

"I had no idea you'd been promoted," I said quietly, turning away from him.

"I was promoted right after the battle." He cleared his throat.

"There's no need to explain." He rolled his eyes at my insistence. "Godric Charlie, there's no reason that I was supposed to know."

"Isn't there?" he posed the question tentatively. When I gave him no answer he straightened up and asked in a voice that was more blithe. You didn't need to know him as well as I did to know that it was fake. "But hey, you've been promoted as well."

"I guess you could say that."

"Becoming the head of the medical team on the reserve isn't a promotion?"

"It's a way for me to get the experience I need," I explained steadily, "I was up for the head of department position at St. Mungo's but I didn't have enough experience. And now here I am, gaining experience."

"I see," he muttered back, voice tight.

"I'm only here for a couple of years' maximum. Once I'm done here then I'll be going back to England."

He nodded forcefully, "Of course that makes sense, you've got no business being here."

"Charlie –"

"I mean, what other reason is there for you to stay here?" The question probed deeply, as he stared down at me.

I averted my eyes, looking back to the clipboard, "Nothing."

"I thought not." He straightened up to his full height, holding a hand out towards me. "It's a pleasure to meet you head healer Hill. Welcome to the reserve."

I took his hand briefly, "The pleasure's all mine."

Charlie turned and walked out of the medical cabin without another word. Only when I had heard the door of the cabin shut behind him, did I turn back to the team of healers who had long since given up pretending to do their work.

"Are you all done staring?" Raising an eyebrow, I looked over the healers who scrambled back to their work. "Or is there something you want to say to me?"

Shaking their heads, they carried on with their work and I shook my head. Nosey buggers.

"Hopkins," I called out to the younger boy who hurried to my side, carrying a large crate as he did so, "So I take it that you found the missing potions then?"

He nodded with a big relieved smile, setting the crate down on one of the desk. I cracked it open with a wave of my wand and started restocking the shelf. He came to my side, helping me in silence.

I rolled my eyes, "Whatever it is that you want to say, I suggest you say it not before you burst from keeping it inside of you for so long."

"What's going on between you and Charlie?" he asked hesitantly.

"Nothing." Glancing at him briefly, I handed the list that I had been working on off to him. "We went to Hogwarts together and we were in the same year."

"That's all?" He furrowed his eyebrows, glancing down at the list before looking back to me. "It doesn't seem like that's it."

"That's all there is to it," I confirmed and gestured to the paper Hopkins was currently clutching to his chest. "Now, run ahead and order those ingredients for me."

He mock saluted me. "Yes ma'am."

* * *

I had been right in assuming that there would never be a spare moment in the medical cabin, especially not with the number of dragons on site. More often than not, the patients that we were treating were the trainee Dragonologists that had gotten too close to a dragon when they really shouldn't have been.

The door to the cabin opened as yet another patient walked in, looking a little shamefaced. His expression told me that this was his first trip to the medical cabin in a while and really, it would be the first of many. It always was.

"Come in," I said, gesturing to the young man to sit in the chair beside my desk.

He walked through the hovering healers who were tending to the patients in the full beds and settled down across from me. Looking him over with a critical eye, my eyes narrowed onto the arm that he was cradling to his chest.

"Is it a cut or a burn?"

"It's a cut," he said quietly, outstretching his arm when I gestured for him to set it down. I pushed my chair closer to the desk, peering down at his injury, "Once you've been a trainee here for more than a few months you get burnt less often because the dragons are capable of recognising you."

"And you end up getting cut by talons more," I muttered, glancing up at him to see him grin a little awkwardly, confirming my theory. "You still get too close and get cut."

"Well, I _am_ still a trainee."

"That you are." With a wave of my wand I cut his shirt sleeve up to the elbow so I could get a better look at the wound. He made no sound of protest, "Merlin, you look like you've just left Hogwarts."

He puffed his chest out a little, offended by my words, "I left Hogwarts two years ago."

"And I left Hogwarts eight years ago so you're practically a child in my eyes." He deflated in his seat a little, bringing a smile to my lips as I pushed away from my desk to gather the necessary supplies. When I returned to my seat, he took the Blood-Replenishing potion that I gave him without a fuss, keeping his eyes on me as he did so. I raised an eyebrow, "Is there something you want to say?"

He turned his eyes away from me. Instead he looked curiously around the bustling medical cabin. His eyes roved across each of the occupied beds before looking at the qualified healers who were each dealing with a patient. Hopkins looked rather ragged as he ran between the healer's desks, carrying out various tasks and just when he would finish, another healer would call out for him.

"It's really busy in here," he stated the obvious.

"It always is," I muttered without looking up at him as I cleaned the blood from around the wound. "I'm sure you've noticed but a dragon reserve is an extremely dangerous place. Whether you believe it or not, Mr Stebbs, you're the twentieth patient I've seen today."

"I didn't tell you my name –"

"Oh please, as the healer in charge, it's my job to know the people that I'm responsible for." Glancing up at him briefly, I gave him a small smile as I reached for the needle and thread. His face paled a little at the sight and I squeezed his hand reassuringly. "It won't hurt much. But some of the patients find that talking about something helps get their mind off of the pain."

"Well what should I talk about?" He turned his eyes away from what I was doing, unable to watch as I brought the needle to his skin.

"What made you choose to become a Dragonologist? It's not exactly a conventional career option."

He pondered the question, not even realising the moment where the needle entered his skin for the first time. I focused on stitching him up, waiting patiently for him to speak.

"Charlie Weasley's my role model," he began quietly, and without knowing it, my hand slowed a little. "I mean, the man's a bloody dragon tamer and well Merlin, if that's not cool."

"So that's it then?" I teased, forcing myself to turn my focus back to the task at hand. "It's cool?"

"No," he admitted, eyes returning to the side of my face as I continued to work. "We were never really taught about dragons in school and I wanted the chance to learn about them. It was a bonus that he worked here and he was just as cool as I thought he'd be – he's like the older brother I always wanted."

"Charlies got a lot of younger brothers," I added before I could stop myself, "I'm sure he doesn't mind one more."

Stebbs eyed me, pondering over something. Finally, as if he made up his mind, he started to talk again. "Sometimes, the trainees and the mentors head off for a drink or two and he's always so cautious not to get drunk but when the other blokes have made their minds up to get him drunk, then he gets smashed. And on those days, the filter he has disappears completely and he starts to talk about his time at Hogwarts."

"Don't we all?" I treaded the topic cautiously as I gave him his final stitch.

"Maybe." He watched me as I cut the thread and put the needle down. I made no attempts to meet his searching eyes, "Most of the time he talks about this one girlfriend he had throughout his entire time at Hogwarts."

"Does he now?"

Stebbs nodded, as I reached for the gauze, "He talks about how they grew up together and she was his best friend before they started dating in his third year and they did everything together. Apparently, everyone at Hogwarts thought they were going to marry as soon as they left school and that they were perfect together but then, out of nowhere, they split up and he's still hooked on her."

"Well, it's about time he gets over her," I said plainly as I started to dress his stitches. "It's been long enough."

"That's what he says." I glanced sharply upwards before I could have hoped to stop myself. "But he can't; he thinks she was his soulmate."

"That's very fascinating Mr Stebbs," clearing my throat, I cut the dressing and started to clear up. "Now, that's all, if you feel any overwhelming pain then you can talk to Mr Hopkins about getting a dose of painkillers. But for now, you can head back to your training."

He rose to his feet, and left with one last parting remark, "It's you isn't it, healer Hill? Maybe you should take this opportunity to deal with the leftover feelings?"

"That will be all, Mr Stebbs," I dismissed the younger man who took the hint and left.

* * *

It had been a week since I had made the move to Romania and I had yet to unpack, simply because there was no time to do so. The tiny size of the medical team meant that most of us were running long shifts and there was rarely time to do anything else but eat and sleep. One of the first things I had done upon arriving in Romania was send a request to the hospital to send some more staff over and yesterday the reinforcement, all four of them, had arrived. Now, there was a grand total of 10 of us. The number was still appallingly small but it meant that a schedule could be made where the staff actually got a break every now and then.

I was taking advantage of my night off. The four newest healers had been given the night shift with Hopkins overseeing them. He had been over the moon to have people he could boss around, even for a little while, and I had headed home. I had some _serious_ unpacking to do. But, I kept getting distracted.

Curling up on my sofa, I tucked my legs under me as I looked through my photo album which contained photos that spanned across my entire lifetime. A younger me, dressed in the Gryffindor colours stood beside a beaming Charlie as he held the golden snitch in his hands after having caught it during his first match. We had both been awkward third years at the time, navigating the confusing world of puberty and a changing friendship. I had tried my very best to keep our friendship the same, scared that I would lose him if it changed. Charlie had been determined to change our friendship, and stepped over the line between being friends and being something else. He had been so certain that nothing wrong would happen if we became something more.

But he had been wrong.

Dismissing the thought, I stared down at the photo before turning the page to the next picture which was taken only moments later. My face was completely red in the picture, eyes wide and Charlie was grinning, arm around my waist as he leaned over to press a swift kiss to the corner of my lips. I could still remember it clearly as though it hadn't happened over 10 years go.

 _It all happened within a matter of seconds. I had been focused on looking at the camera, smiling so the picture came out well and Charlie took the opportunity to wrap his arm around my waist. Because the action wasn't odd and it was something that he did regularly, I made no comment on it. No words of protest left my lips even as he leaned closer._

 _But the moment his lips pressed chastely against the corner of my lips, I gasped as blood rushed to my cheeks. My mouth dropped open in surprise and the photo was clicked. Godric, it was a wizarding photo, and not the still ones taken by muggles. The moment would be forever saved in the photo and from the snickers coming from behind the camera, the photographer knew just that._

 _Charlie moved away from me in an instant, walking towards the photographer to take the picture from him. He returned to my side, seeming completely at ease as though he had done nothing wrong._

 _"It came out well," he declared with a broad grin, holding the picture out for me to take a look._

 _I pointedly didn't look down at the picture and instead shot him a confused look, "Merlin's beard Charlie, what was that?"_

 _He raised his eyes to mine, giving me a heavy look that caught me off guard. "That was a kiss."_

 _"I know that," I exclaimed before lowering my voice when the members of the team that were hovering around us, looked over at us. "But why?"_

 _"Because I wanted to," he said simply, the mischievous Weasley twinkle in his eyes. He lifted the photo a little, "Do you want a copy?"_

 _"I – no!" He snorted quietly, seeming to enjoy seeing me become so flustered._

 _"Suit yourself," he pocketed the photo and looked at me with raised eyebrows, "What?"_

 _"You can't go around kissing your best friend!"_

 _"And why not?" he threw back instantly, "If I want to kiss you, why can't I?"_

 _"I'm your best friend Charlie," I hissed quietly, growing more exasperated as his grin grew wider, "I'm not your girlfriend for you to go around kissing."_

 _"So if you become my girlfriend then I can kiss you whenever I want?" His question caught me off guard and he knew it._

 _"Don't be ridiculous," I spluttered, watching as he rocked back and forth on his heels, "I'm your best friend, I can't be your girlfriend."_

 _"Why can't you be both?"_

 _My mouth dropped open a little, "You're mad. You're absolutely mad."_

 _I hurried away from him, ignoring him as he called out after me, still laughing. As I made it into the sanctuary of the common room, I pressed my hands to my cheeks in an attempt to cool them. Once I'd managed to calm myself, I headed into my dorm and found a copy of the photo lying on my pillow._

 _I didn't bother questioning how it had gotten there._

Someone knocked on my front door and I rose to my feet with a sigh, setting the open photo album down on the coffee table. It was probably Hopkins coming to tell me about some emergency in the medical cabin. Grabbing my wand, I headed towards the door, preparing to run towards the medical cabin only to stop short at the sight of the man standing on my front door step.

"Charlie?"

He smiled slightly, and gestured with his hand, "Can I come in?"

"Um, of course," I said quietly, stepping aside and letting him in. Shutting the door behind him, I hovered uncertainly by the door, "Is there something I can help you with?"

"It's the opposite actually." He met my eyes head on and I glanced away from him, "I'm here to help you unpack."

"And how do you know I need your help to unpack?" I met his eyes with a raised eyebrow.

"Wayne told me about it."

"Hopkins? Hopkins told you that I needed help unpacking?"

"He didn't say that exactly," he amended, running a hand through his hair, "I came in to check on the injured Dragonologists and he happened to say that you'd taken the night off to unpack."

"I need to talk to that boy about disclosing my information to everyone," I muttered as I gestured for him to head into the front room.

"He only told me because I asked where you were," he said as he breezed past me and walked into the front room.

He glanced curiously at the open photo album, lying innocently on the coffee table. Looking at the picture briefly, he glanced up at me with a raised eyebrow and I resolutely did not redden. Instead I walked toward the table and snapped the album shut before he could start looking through it.

"Look Charlie," I cocked my hip a little, "I _really_ don't need your help – I can do this myself."

"Are you sure? Because just the sight of all these boxes makes it obvious that you're lying." A small smirk tugged at the corner of his lips, "It makes practical sense for two of us to work together – you'll save so much time this way."

"I don't know," I trailed off, eyeing him suspiciously. "What do you want in return?"

"Nothing," he said innocently. I narrowed my eyes and he raised is hands, "I'm being honest."

I didn't believe him; was this really the man who, when asked to help with my Care for Magical Creatures essay, demanded I go on a date with him in return?

"Even if you don't want anything in return," I said growing a little uncomfortable under his eyes, "I can't let you help me for nothing in return."

"I was hoping you'd say that," he murmured quietly, closing the distance between us before I could say another word.

Lowering his head to mine, he pressed a kiss to my lips and it was nothing more than a few tentative brushes of his lips against mine. I stood frozen against him, unsure of how to react and realising this, he pulled back a little only to surge forward again moments later. He raised a hand to my head, tilting it towards his as he kissed me again and I returned it this time, just before he pulled away.

He straightened up completely, hand dropping to his side. Clearing his throat, he said quietly, "There. Paid for in full."

He brushed passed me as I stood rooted to my spot. I raised a hand to my lips; Merlin, after all these years, I still –

"Where do you want me to put these?"

Dropping my hand to my side, I approached Charlie who was holding a cardboard box a loft in his hands. The kiss wasn't mentioned for the rest of the night.

* * *

Christmas, a time for family, drew closer and as a result most of the staff within the reserve were headed home. Most of the medical staff had gone home and it was left for me and a select pair of healers to run the medical cabin. It had taken some sharp words to get Hopkins to head home to his family and girlfriend but he had eventually given in. The reserve seemed so quiet now that most of the Dragonologists had headed home too. It had come down to pulling names out of a hat when choosing which of the Dragonologists were to stay and eventually 10 were chosen. Charlie was part of the small group and I was surprised that his mother hadn't made a fuss over that fact.

But still, though I couldn't be home, Christmas was a time to be together and so I had offered to cook Christmas dinner for the dozen or so people left on site. I was moving through my kitchen, having placed the turkey in the oven when there was a knock on my door. I glanced at the clock and frowned, they weren't supposed to be here yet.

Washing my hands quickly I hurried to the front door and let them into the house. They all crowded into the cabin and at my insistence, they made themselves at home. Charlie brought up the rear of the group and he stopped beside me.

"What are you all doing here?" I couldn't help but ask as I started to make my way to the kitchen.

"We thought that it's be rude to turn up and do nothing to help you," Stebbs explained from the front room. "It was all Charlie's idea."

"Of course it was," I said with a roll of my eyes as I looked at man who was following me into the kitchen, "He wouldn't be the son of Arthur and Molly Weasley if he hadn't suggested it."

Charlie made himself comfortable, watching me from the doorway of the kitchen as I started to peel some potatoes. He leaned against the wall with one shoulder, watching me carefully. After a few moments of silence, he walked over to my side and stole the peeler from my hands and started to peel the potatoes for me. I threw him a cautious look; I wasn't sure how to act around him ever since the kiss. Clearing my throat, I placed the carrots in front of him too before stepping away to check on the turkey.

"Healer Hill," Stebbs called out as he approached the kitchen.

"Yes?" I wiped my hands on the apron tied around my waist, looking at the man standing in my doorway.

"You haven't decorated the Christmas tree," he said sounding appalled.

"I haven't exactly had the time to buy decorations and put them up, Stebbs."

"But what's the point of having a non-decorated Christmas tree up," he protested with a frown.

"Because it wouldn't feel like Christmas without it."

"I've got some decorations in my cabin," he said contemplatively, "Let me go and get them and we can decorate the tree whilst you cook." He turned to leave before pausing, looking between Charlie and me, "Do you need some help in the kitchen?"

"No, we've got it handled," Charlie said as he looked up at the younger man. I watched from the side-lines as they communicated silently. Nodding in understanding, Stebbs hurried out of the kitchen. "Don't forget the mistletoe!"

The words were aimed at Stebbs, but Charlie's eyes hadn't left me as he said them. Clearing my throat, I moved around the kitchen as I started on the sprouts and ignored the eyes that were rooted to my back. Being in the kitchen with Charlie brought back so many memories and now, looking back on it all, it was almost funny just how many of our memories were made in one kitchen or another.

The summer of our final year at Hogwarts, after our results had been released and Charlie had been given the chance to come to Romania, we had broken up in a kitchen.

 _It wasn't odd for my family to spend Christmas day with the Weasleys. After all, we lived next door to them and as we usually did, we popped around before Christmas dinner. I made a detour for the kitchen, the way I always did, in order to help Molly and mum as they worked on Christmas dinner. Molly, upon seeing my figure in the doorway, greeted me with a smile and as she usually did, she called me her daughter-in-law. Somewhere along the way I had stopped blushing at her words and had started to wonder whether that would ever happen._

 _I mean, I wasn't deaf to the rumours that circulated around the school. They all said that he was planning on proposing to me this year and that it made sense for childhood sweethearts to want to marry as soon as they could. But, rumours were rumours and they rarely had any substance behind them._

 _Before I could ask her if she needed any help, Molly handed me a chopping board and the peeled potatoes and I sat down at the table, getting to work. The silence of the burrow was shattered by the loud voices of the Weasley children as they thundered into the house. Ginny settled down in the chair beside me and started to talk to me about what my plans were after Hogwarts. For as long as I'd known her, she always took the chance to leave her brothers behind and sit quietly with me._

 _"Are you really going to marry Charlie?" she asked suddenly, catching me by surprise._

 _My eyes widened, looking down at the 9-year-old girl, "No Ginny, we're not even engaged."_

 _"But Bill was teasing Charlie," she trailed off uncertainly, "And Fred and George were running around saying that all day."_

 _"Well Bill likes to tease Charlie, and Fred and George are only 12 – they're immature." I smiled at her, "Not like you."_

 _"You're right," she straightened out her shoulders, "I'm **much** more mature than they are."_

 _Ginny started to talk about the presents she'd picked out for her brothers as I continued to chop the potatoes. A kiss was dropped to the top of my head, catching me by surprise. Setting the knife down on the chopping board, I peered back at Charlie who smile down at me. Taking a hold of my shoulder, he leaned down to press a kiss to my lips. He pulled back with a grin which only became bigger when Ginny giggled from beside me._

 _"Merry Christmas," he said quietly as he sat down on the other side of me._

 _"Merry Christmas Charlie."_

 _"I can't wait for you to see the present I got you." He reached out to take my hand, his thumb rubbing back and forth over my ring finger._

 _"What did you –"_

 _"Charles Weasley," Molly exclaimed, storming out of the kitchen before I could finish my sentence. Her eyes landed on her son as she settled her hands on her hips, "What is this Bill's saying about you moving to Romania?"_

 _Her question knocked the breath out of me and Charlie realising that, tightened his hold on my hand. Bill walked out of the kitchen behind his mother and gave Charlie an apologetic look._

 _"I hadn't realised you hadn't told them yet," he explained, rubbing the back of his neck._

 _My eyes drifted to Charlie as I waited for him to deny the words and to my horror he didn't. Instead, he let out a deep breath as he forced himself to smile back at his older brother. "It's fine Bill, I was going to do it today anyway."_

 _"Well?" Molly questioned forcefully once again and I took the chance to pull my hand out from under Charlie's. He glanced worriedly in my direction as I turned back to the potatoes. "Charles Weasley, I am talking to you!"_

 _Charlie turned his eyes back to his mother and eventually followed her into the kitchen when she gestured for him to follow after her. I continued to cut the potatoes in silence when Ginny put a gentle hand on my arm._

 _"I'm sure it's some sort of misunderstanding."_

 _"Yeah," I trailed off quietly._

 _Once I was done with the potatoes, I hesitated to carry them back into the kitchen. Charlie had yet to leave the kitchen but I gathered myself and carried the potatoes into the kitchen. Molly was working with her back to Charlie as he stood on the other side of the kitchen._

 _"I'm finished with the potatoes," I explained quietly and she looked up at me with a brave smile._

 _I swallowed nervously, her eyes were red as though she had been crying and I felt my stomach lurch. Merlin, he was really leaving._

 _"Thank you, dear." Taking the potatoes from me, she set them aside._

 _"Is there anything else –"_

 _Charlie took my hand in his, "I need to talk to you."_

 _I was hesitant in my response as I looked up into his eyes. He stared solemnly down at me and I eventually nodded, letting him pull me out of the kitchen. We walked through the front room, his brothers falling silent when they realised something was up, and made our way towards his room. He shut the door behind him and I wrapped my arms around my waist. I needed to prepare myself for the worst._

 _"I was going to tell you today," he said after a while, "I didn't think Bill or mum would spill the beans before I could and –"_

 _"Can you just explain it all to me?" I asked cutting him off as I sat down on his bed. I fiddled with his duvet, glancing away from him as I asked, "So, you're moving to Romania?"_

 _"I applied for a trainee Dragonologist position at a reserve in Romania," he explained steadily as he sat down beside me. I nodded slowly, taking it in._

 _"Romania –"_

 _"It's not like it's on the other side of the world," he placated, taking my hand in his and lacing our fingers together, "I'm still in Europe."_

 _"Yes, you're on the same continent but you're not in the same country." Letting out a sigh, I glanced curiously at him. "Why didn't you tell me?"_

 _"I was going to. Really, I was." He sighed, looking down at our hands, "But I wasn't sure how to tell you because there was always a chance that I wasn't going to get selected. It's all still very undecided, it depends on the results I get this summer."_

 _"Of course they'd have selected you," I muttered, nudging him with my shoulder, "They'd have been stupid not to."_

 _He smiled gently, "There's no reason that this needs to change anything about us."_

 _"Obviously there is," I chided, pulling my hand out from his. "The distance might not be a strain at the beginning but it'll become one eventually and we'll grow apart. A change is inevitable."_

 _"You're right," he agreed as he rose from his bed. Even though I knew it, it didn't mean it hurt any less. I heard him walk around the room but instead of looking at him, I stared down at the floorboards. This was **not** how I imagined we'd be spending Christmas day. _

_My breath cut short when a ring box was placed in the centre of my vision. My eyes drifted up to Charlie as he crouched before me and I reached out to stop him before he could open the box._

 _I searched his eyes, whispering, "What the hell are you doing?"_

 _"If I end up in Romania then yes, there'll be a change in our relationship," he said steadily, "But it doesn't need to be a bad change."_

 _"You're absolutely mad." I shook my head slowly, "If we can't manage a long-distance relationship, how would me manage a long-distance marriage." His features shifted a little and I understood then, "You want me to go with you."_

 _"Love –"_

 _"I can't Charlie." I bit my bottom lip, "There's something I need to tell you – St. Mungo's owled me yesterday – they want me onboard."_

 _"That's wonderful news," he beamed, surging forward to press a kiss to my lips._

 _"You're not getting it Charlie," I insisted, "You'll be in Romania and I'll be in England –"_

 _"The reserve will need healer," he asserted firmly._

 _"Let's wait until summer arrives," I suggested tentatively, pushing the ring box back towards him. "When summer arrives, when our results are out, then we'll see."_

 _"Fine," he said, swallowing thickly as he rose to his feet. Pocketing the ring box, he sat down beside me and asked quietly, "If I had asked you and there was no chance of me going off to Romania, of us being in completely different countries, would you have said yes?"_

 _Leaning my head on his shoulder, I took his hand in mine. "In a heartbeat."_

 _Summer came soon after, almost too soon and the moment a Hogwarts owl had brought my results to me, I had hurried to the burrow with my unopened envelope in tow. Charlie was waiting for me in the kitchen and we both stood, side by side as we stared down at the two unopened envelopes that would decide our future._

 _When it became obvious that neither of us was willing to open our envelopes, in case they spelled the end of us, I let out a steadying breath. My hand reached out to pick up the seemingly harmless envelope, shaking slightly as it did so._

 _"I'll go first," I said quietly, breaking the seal on the back of the envelope. I pulled the paper out, looking over my results and felt conflicted._

 _"Well?" he prompted, worrying after my silence grew longer._

 _"I'm going to be a healer," my voice was weak. It was what I had always wanted and yet, it now left a bitter taste in my mouth._

 _"Congratulations," he leaned down to press a kiss to my lips. "I knew you'd do it."_

 _"You're turn now."_

 _He nodded solemnly and opened his letter quickly. Holding the piece of paper aloft, he glanced over the results and from his facial expression, I tried to guess whether it was good news or not. But I was left to wander whether the good news was him getting into the reserve or whether that was the bad news._

 _"So?"_

 _"I got in," he said, sounding stricken._

 _I forced myself to smile and rose to my toes to press a lingering kiss to his lips. It felt as though it would be our last. "I'm so proud of you Charlie."_

 _It seemed like he shared my sentiment of this being the end as he let the letter fall from his hands and took hold of my face instead, keeping me close to him._

 _"We can work something out," he insisted and I struggled to keep smiling, even as I felt tears fill my eyes._

 _"I don't think that's an option Charlie."_

 _"It is." He pressed a desperate kiss to my lips, "Marry me –"_

 _"We've been over this," my words lacked any sincerity as I took his face between my hands. "It's not practical."_

 _"Who cares?" he demanded roughly, "That doesn't matter."_

 _"I'm so sorry," the words came out as a sob as I pressed one last kiss to his lips. "Merlin, we can't Charlie. We'd end up destroying our relationship."_

 _I tried to pull away from him and had minimal success. While his hands removed themselves from my face, they instead settled on my waist and pulled me back to him._

 _"And this isn't destroying our relationship?" he pleaded, voice thick with tears as he tried to get me to reconsider. "I don't want this to be the end."_

 _"Neither do I." I shook my head as a stray tear fell and I forcefully removed his hands from around me. "Merlin, I'm sorry Charlie."_

"We've made a lot of memories in kitchens," Charlie said as though he was capable of reading my thoughts. My mind was still swamped with the painful memory and I swatted it away. "Haven't we?"

"I guess you could say that," I said quietly, walking around to take the vegetables from him once he was done peeling them.

"According to mum I met you for the first time in our kitchen –"

"You were only a couple of months old –"

"I pulled your hair in your kitchen when we were four and made you cry," he said with a chuckle. He glanced cautiously at me from the corner of his eye. "What memory comes to your head first?"

"My head?" I let out a breath, "We broke up in a kitchen."

He was silent and I continued to move around the kitchen. Eventually he sighed but made no move to approach me. "That's not the first one that comes to my mind. I always remember the first time _you_ kissed _me_ was in the Hogwarts kitchen when we'd snuck out for some hot chocolate in the middle of the night."

* * *

"What are you doing Charlie?" I asked with a sigh, staring at the man who had started to slowly make himself more and more at home in my cabin over the last few weeks. Today he'd shown up on my doorstep with food and a charming smile.

"What?" he protested innocently, as he brushed passed me and headed inside. "You've just gotten off from a long shift and you're probably starving but lack the energy to cook anything."

"Charlie." Following after him, I shadowed him as he walked into my kitchen.

"It's too boring eating alone," he insisted as he reheated the food and rummaged through my cupboards to pull out two sets of cutlery. "At least this way there'll be someone to talk to whilst we eat."

Crossing my arms, I leaned against the wall and watching him silently. Merlin, he made it so difficult to get over him. Clearing my throat, I straightened up and walked into the kitchen to help him.

"Why are you doing this?" My question was quiet and I made sure not to look at him as I asked it, "You keep searching out excuses to appear in front of me and I just – I want to know why Charlie."

"I shouldn't have to tell you why." His voice was just as quiet as mine.

I turned to look at him, seeing the way his shoulders had stiffened significantly since my last question. "I'd still like to know."

With a sigh, he set the plate he'd retrieved from the cupboard on the counter, "You make it so completely difficult to get over you. I think that I've managed to do it but then I know it's a lie, and that I'm only tricking myself into thinking it. I'll be going along with my day to day business and then there'll be something, some seemingly insignificant detail, that'll remind me of you. Godric, it's been _eight years_ since we split up, eight bloody years and I still can't get you out of my mind." Turning around to lean his back against the counter, he watched me with dark eyes, "Well, say something then."

What was I supposed to say? He'd already said it all.

I raised my eyes hesitantly to his, "Do you ever regret it? Us dating that is?"

He shook his head and said resolutely, "Never."

"Do you never think about how, if we hadn't dated, then we'd probably still be best friends now and we'd at least be a bigger part of each other's lives than we are now?" I licked my lips, "Because I think about it all the time."

"That would equally be the case if we'd never broken up in the first place."

"Well we did break up." Turning my back to him, I effectively ended the conversation.

The sound of his sigh was followed by his footsteps fading into the distance, "The food's done – come to the table."

After a moment's hesitation, I followed after him and sat down across from him. Picking up my fork, I watched him idly move the food around his plate as he lost himself in his thoughts.

"Before the battle happened, I didn't visit home as often as I wanted to because I was trying to stay away from you. I knew that if I was back home then I'd be tempted to just walk down the road and see you. But I wouldn't let myself do that," he admitted, eyes on his plate, "because I thought that was what you wanted – to not see me for a while, and that it would make this all easier. But it didn't. And then the battle happened, and Fred –"

"Charlie –"

"I need to say this." He let out a deep breath, still not raising his eyes from his plate of food, "It all made me realise that at any moment, anything could happen to us. We could be here one minute and gone the next and I realised that my biggest regret would be that I let you go that day without fighting for us."

"Charlie, _please_ –"

He looked up at me then, "Do you realise that if we hadn't have broken up, if I hadn't gotten the right grades, then we'd probably be married by now? We'd probably have a kid or two running around the house. We'd be happy."

"Aren't you happy?" I asked tentatively, "This is your dream job."

"Are _you_?" he returned, "Being a healer is _your_ dream job."

My eyes lowered to my plate as I idly played with my food instead of meeting his eyes, "That's all business of the past Charlie –"

"I don't think it is." He was silent for a while before confessing, "The night of the battle when we'd all returned home and I snuck into your room – I was going to wait until the morning to tell you something. But by the time I'd woken up, you were gone."

"St Mungo's called all the healers in to treat the rest of the wounded," I muttered in explanation, remembering the day he was referring to. How on earth would I have forgotten it? It had been the first time I had seen him in years, in the aftermath of a war.

 _"They say the battle's finally ended," Madame Pomphrey announced as she swept into the hospital wing – or what remained of it._

 _The healers that had rushed over to Hogwarts, myself included, looked up at the older woman briefly before returning to our numerous patients. She made her way through the wing, surveying each of the patients as she did so._

 _"They say they caught the final death eater and now it's all over."_

 _"That's good, isn't it?" one of the healers asked from the other bed, "Why is she saying it as if it isn't?"_

 _"Because from now on, it's **our** battle as hordes of patients get brought in through those doors," I explained as I finished applying a cast to my patient. "The wounded wizards and witches who were too busy fighting to get treated, are going to be filling in through those doors in a matter of minutes." _

_And I had been right. Some of the healers had been dispatched to heal the patients who couldn't make it to the hospital wing and the rest of us had been left to deal with the growing line of patients outside of the hospital wing. A pair of seventh year students stood by the front of the doors, tending to the line and letting the patients in one at a time._

 _"Hopkins," I called out to one of the seventh years by the door, "Let another one in."_

 _As I sterilised my equipment, I glanced briefly at my new patient before freezing a little. Charlie settled into the seat in front of me and I swallowed nervously._

 _"When did you get here?" I asked as he started to shrug out of his shirt and show me to large gash on his chest._

 _"It took a while to sort out the portkey," he explained, eyes trained on my face as though he was engraining each of my features into his memory, "But once it was sorted then I was over here as soon as I could be."_

 _"I'm glad you're safe," my words were quiet but genuine as I slipped on some gloves._

 _"What are the chances of losing two Weasleys tonight?" the words were meant to appear as though they had been said without any real meaning but I knew better._

 _"I heard about Fred," I said gently, feeling my throat clog a little at the memory of the Weasley who'd been such a large part of my life. Merlin, **I** felt as though I had lost a brother, but it would only be a small fraction of what he felt. "I'm sorry Charlie."_

 _"I don't want to talk about it," he said quietly, firmly and I nodded as I pushed my chair closer to his to get a better look at his wound._

 _I gasped a little at what I saw. My reaction wasn't to the wound which was rather deep, but to the tattoo that the gash sliced straight through. Making no comment on the tattoo, I got to work with clearing the wound._

 _"It was a drunken mistake," Charlie explained, peering down at me as I continued to work in silence._

 _I said nothing. I didn't know how to feel about him permanently tattooing my name onto his chest, on the space over his heart – especially if it had been a drunken mistake._

 _"One of my friends removes tattoos for a living," I trailed off suggestively._

 _He shook his head instantly, "I have no intention of getting it removed." When I glanced up at him, he gave me a cheeky smile, briefly erasing the deep-set grief from his features. "I always told you that I'd get it done."_

 _Shaking my head with a slight laugh, that sounded fake even to my ears, I pushed away from him when I had finished dealing with his wound, "And I had always told you not to get it done."_

 _"You said it would look ghastly," he remembered, shrugging back into his shirt and wincing when the action pulled at his stitches._

 _Leaning over to help him, I acknowledged quietly, "It doesn't look as ghastly as I thought it would."_

 _As he rose to his feet to leave, I turned back to my medical equipment in time to hear him say, "I'm glad you're safe. I don't know what I'd have done if I lost you too."_

"Don't you want to know what I was going to tell you?" he asked after a moment, when it became clear that I had lost myself in my thoughts.

"Sorry?" I looked up at him with startled eyes. It was becoming more and more of a common thing for me to return to my memories of my times with Charlie since I had arrived at the reserve. The more he was around me, the harder it became to keep those thoughts at bay.

"I was going to tell you I love you and I still do" he said, meeting my eyes head on. "What would you have done then?"

"Nothing," I said truthfully, "Because it wouldn't change the fact that you'd be returning to Romania a few days later and I would have been left behind in England."

"I thought so," he muttered with a sigh.

I pondered carefully about whether or not I should continue with what I had wanted to say. I decided to do it anyway; because really, what was the worst thing that could come of it?

"But it would have been the single hardest thing to have said. Well," I amended, "the single hardest thing after breaking up with you, that is."

* * *

Just as I had gotten ready to settle in for a well-deserved rest for the night, there was rapid, hurried knocking on my front door. Making my way to the front door, I wrenched it open and gave the young man on the other side, an unimpressed glare.

"Wayne Hopkins," I said flatly, "What the hell are you doing here?"

He shuffled on his feet, "You need to hurry to the medical cabin."

"My 12-hour shift finished an hour ago." I crossed my arms, giving him a firm look. "Do you not see that I'm wearing my pyjamas and my fluffy bunny slippers? That means it's time for me to go to sleep."

"You need to hurry," he insisted urgently, reaching out to take my hand and pull me towards him, "There's been an accident. One of the new dragons got loose and lots of the Dragonologists are injured."

"Give me a second." Hurrying back inside, I grabbed my wand before running back to Wayne's side.

Locking the cabin behind me, I rushed to the medical cabin with Wayne by my side as he filled me in on the situation. Apparently one of the dragons that had been brought over to the reserve just this morning had managed to get out of the enclosure whilst the trainees in charge of it had been distracted, it had charged for them. They were currently being treated in the medical cabin. The dragon had roamed loose and it had taken a dozen of the professional Dragonologists to manoeuvre the dragon back to its enclosure. All in all, about two dozen member of staff were injured.

Entering the medical cabin, I quickly assessed the situation, doing a quick head count as I tied my hair out of the way. Every single member of the medical team was rushing through the cabin as they tried to treat the patients.

"Merlin," I muttered under my breath as I pressed a hand to my forehead, "I'm not getting paid enough for this." I straightened up and looked at Wayne who was standing by my side, and had grown paler the moment he'd set foot inside the cabin. The clipboard that he'd picked up upon entrance was shaking in his hand. "What's the status report?"

"The on-call healers quickly categorised all of the wounds; thankfully most of those injured have superficial wounds and the others with more severe wounds are being dealt with first." He cleared his throat, "They thought it was right to give the more severe injuries higher priority."

"It was the right call," I muttered under my breath, reaching out to snag the clipboard from Wayne and looked over it briefly. "But we can't have those with superficial wounds standing out all night without being healed. Wayne, tend to them."

"Me?" he protested wildly, "I don't know what I'm doing."

"Cut the bull crap," I snapped, turning to face him sharply, "Are you not seeing the situation we're in right now? We're severely understaffed and frankly, I don't have time to mollycoddle you into doing your bloody job! You know what you need to do so get to it."

He looked down at his feet, appearing wounded by my words, "But I don't know what to do –"

"Listen to me Wayne," I said gently, forcing myself to calm down as I squeezed his shoulder, "You know what you're doing, and you've always talked about how you wanted to be a healer and this is your chance to prove it. Do you trust yourself to look after these men?"

He shook his head hesitantly, biting down on his bottom lip. "No, I don't."

"Well I trust you," my voice told him just how confident I was in his abilities. He looked up at me cautiously. "Now prove to me that I've put my trust in the right person."

He nodded once, resolute and marched off to approach one of the waiting patients. Once I was certain that he would handle the patients, I walked towards one of the healers to see what they had manged to do so far. After another assessment of the situation I delved head first into the scene and started to heal all of the remaining patients.

An hour later, once each of the patients had been dealt with, I crumbled to the floor and tucked my aching legs underneath me. The other healers shared the same sentiment as me and sat down on the floor alongside me as we took in the stillness of the medical cabin. My ears were still ringing a little, as I slowly grew accustomed to the silence that blanketed the cabin after it had been buzzing with sounds and shouts only minutes ago. I ran a tired hand over my face and placed my wand on the floor in front of me, its tip had begun to smoke a little from the heavy use – another consequence of being a healer.

"Why don't you all go and get some sleep," I said eventually, looking over the group of healers who turned to face me upon hearing my voice. "I'll watch over the cabin for tonight."

There were protests instantly, "But by the time morning comes you'll have been awake for over 24 hours and –"

"I need to keep an eye on the patient that was bitten," my firm declaration made them fall into silence. "I trust that you all read that basic handbook we were given before coming here? The dragon that managed to escape is one that's known to carry the last strand of dragon pox and getting bit by it can infect the victim. If there's no symptoms within the next two hours then the danger period has ended and there's no chance of an outbreak."

"And if there are symptoms?" Wayne asked as I rubbed my eyes.

"Then the cabin will become an isolated treatment facility and we'll move on from there by placing the entire reserve under quarantine." Rising to my feet, I massaged my knees slightly. "So, hurry off to bed, all of you. I expect you to be here on time in the morning so I can spend all of tomorrow sleeping."

The healers were hesitant to leave and Wayne was the last to do so, like I knew he would have been. Only when I had proven to him that I was fine and reassured him that he'd done well today, did he leave the medical cabin. Once I was alone, I made my way towards the critical patient who had fallen into a potion-induced sleep.

Merlin; Charlie always got himself into these situations. From what the other Dragonologists had said, he'd taken the dragon head on even though he knew how dangerous it, just because he was meant to be the one in charge. But then again, I shouldn't have been surprised. Not only was he a Gryffindor through and through, but he was a Weasley.

Godric, the last time I had been in this situation, standing beside a bed with him sleeping in it was the morning after the final battle. Just before I had snuck off to head to work. Sitting down in the seat beside the bed, I settled in for the night and for once, I gladly allowed the memory of that night to take me away from the current situation.

 _After a long day of healing the wounded all I wanted to do was curl up and go to sleep. That or cry._

 _The number of friends, of family members that had been ripped away from me in one day was terrifying and left a gaping hole in my chest. All I wanted was for sleep to come for me so I could have somewhere to escape the harsh reality of the world for a while and the slightest of hopes that today's occurrences had been nothing but the worst possible dream._

 _I had decided to spend the night at my parent's home, needing to be closer to the family that I had left and found myself changing into my pyjamas in my old bedroom. Clambering into my bed, I pulled the covers up to my neck and closed my eyes._

 _Only to open them when I heard the creaking of the floorboard. My hand dove under my pillow to curl around my wand and I rose suddenly, wand outstretched to point towards the area the sound had come from. A shocked, relieved breath left my lips when I realised that it was only Charlie climbing in through my window, the way he had done almost every night since the beginning of our sixth year. He had continued the habit right up until he had left for Romania – even though we were technically broken up._

 _"What are you doing here?" I asked as I watched him close the window behind him._

 _"I needed to get away," he explained._

 _"Your mother will have a fit when she finds out that you're not in your bed Charlie, who knows what she'll think." Biting my lip hesitantly, I added, "Especially after today –"_

 _"I told her where I'd be." He slipped off his shoes and clambered into my bed, heading straight for 'his' side. "She said it was alright, she knew I needed space."_

 _"But your family need you right now," I insisted as I watched him get settled into bed._

 _He outstretched his arms towards me, and said quietly, "And I need you right now."_

 _I went into his arms without a word, letting them curl around me and hold me against him. We laid there in silence and I listened to the steady sound of his beating heart beneath my ear._

 _"How are your parents?" I asked eventually, slipping out of his arms to lie on my pillow so I could look him in the eyes._

 _"Coping. Just." He sighed deeply, "But they have to be coping, for all of us."_

 _"And how are you Charlie?"_

 _"I keep thinking that if I had gotten here sooner then maybe, maybe I would have been able to –"_

 _Reaching a hand out to his lips, I covered his mouth. "Don't. You know that there's nothing you would have been able to do."_

 _"I know, but if I had just –" He cut himself off suddenly, taking in a ragged breath._

 _He moved towards me instantly, burrowing his head in my neck and silent sobs wracked his frame. I held onto him tightly, giving him the security he needed as he broke down for the first time in a very long time. Listening to his unsteady breathing and the occasional sobs that he let out, I felt my own eyes fill with tears and blinked them back. Turning my face towards his, I pressed a kiss to his hair, gently stroking his back._

* * *

I woke the next morning to fingers running through my hair, my ponytail having long fallen out. My sleep-addled brain found nothing odd about the sensation and I nuzzled further into my pillow before moaning at the crick in my neck. The fingers, as if knowing the source of my pain, left my hair to rub soothingly at the back of my neck.

Letting out a relieved sigh as I felt the tension ease, I opened my eyes slowly only to be greeted by the sight of hospital beds on the other side of the room. I sat up with a sudden gasp, realising that not only had I fallen asleep at Charlie's bedside, but I had managed to somehow fall asleep with my head against the mattress.

I met Charlie's open eyes with my own embarrassed ones and hurried to tie my hair back up again. My mouth parted as I tried to make up some excuse because this wasn't what qualified healers did. We didn't fall asleep at a patient's bedside, especially when we were supposed to be keeping an eye out for the early symptoms of dragon pox –

My eyes widened as I leaned over Charlie a little, looking over him for the symptoms. He laid back against his pillow and said nothing, letting me carry out my inspection. There was no sign of the puss filled boils, no green tint to his skin

"Anything wrong?" he asked when I pulled back from him.

"It doesn't seem like it," I muttered, continuing to look him over.

"There were no symptoms of dragon pox," a voice called out from behind me and I turned to see Wayne moving around the cabin as he tended to the patients that had woken up. "I came to check up on you an hour or two after we'd all left, and give you some coffee to help you stay awake but you were already sleeping."

"Merlin, I'm sorry Wayne."

"Don't be," he insisted, waving my concerns away as he approached me, "I handled everything and even ran a diagnostic spell on him. There's no traces of dragon pox anywhere in his system."

"Look at you," I said with a grin, reaching out to ruffle his hair, "You're practically a fully-fledged healer."

"Almost," he agreed as he continued on his rounds and I turned back to the bedridden man who had watched our interaction in silence.

"What?" he asked, shifting slightly when my eyes settled on him.

"How is it you keep getting injured in the same place?" I wandered, reaching out to press a hand to the space above his heart, "You were injured here during the battle and then a bloody dragon bites you here –"

"And yet the tattoo's safe and sound," he said with a grin which faded when he saw the way I sighed and collapsed back into the seat by his bed. Reaching out with his hand, he ran a soothing hand though my hair. "What is it?"

"I can't keep doing this," I admitted quietly, wondering whether he had heard me or not.

"Doing what?"

"I can't keep fighting against this." Lifting my gaze to his, I saw the way he was hesitating to show any form of reaction, in case the conversation twisted in a way he hadn't imagined. "Every single part of me is screaming out that not being with you is wrong and I can't keep ignoring that. Breaking up was the worst decision and it's too hard to keep acting as if your feelings are onesided."

"Breaking up wasn't my idea," he reminded me, and I reached out to swat his arm.

He took my arm and pulled on it to get me to close the distance between us again. I glanced curiously at him and he only leaned forward to press a quick kiss to my lips.

"Just so you know," he remarked quietly as I drew back from him, "I'm not going to let you break up with me again. The consequences are too long-lasting and too painful."


	2. Epilogue

_1 YEAR LATER_

I had been working at the reserve for over a year now and hadn't visited home since I had moved to Romania. My parents had been disappointed. But I hadn't wanted to spend a short amount of time with them, only to have to return to Romania until I could find time to visit them again. I had been planning on visiting them for Christmas but it appeared that Charlie had other plans. He had gone behind my back and arranged with the minister of all people for me to get a couple of weeks off. We had both headed home and after arriving in my parents' home yesterday, I had already been smothered by all the affection that I could have possibly wanted.

"Love?" Charlie called out as he walked in through the front door, "Are you in?"

"I'm in the front room Charlie," I called out, rising to my feet to meet him by the front door. He instantly took me in his arms, lifting me off to ground a little and holding me as if he hadn't seen me in weeks. I giggled a little when he set me back on the ground, and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. "What are you doing here?"

"Your parents are out right?"

I nodded, furrowing my eyebrows a little. "Why?"

"Because I promised them that I wouldn't let you starve today."

"You're acting as if I don't do most of the cooking back in Romania," I pointed out, brushing some of his hair behind his ear. It really _was_ getting too long and I had told him as much, stating that long hair was Bill's thing. "So, what have you got planned then?"

"Mum's invited you to outs for lunch," he admitted, "She said she'd missed seeing you around."

"You didn't happen to tell her –"

"That we're engaged?" He raised both eyebrows, looking down at me with an incredulous expression, "Of course not, are you mad? The woman would kill me for not having told her first."

"Then what's the plan for today?"

"You," he dropped a kiss to the tip of my nose, "Are going to charm mum and therefore get me out of trouble."

I narrowed my eyes at him, "You Weasley brothers claim to be all brave and dashing but the moment it comes to dealing with your mother you turn into scared little boys."

"She's less likely to hex you," he pointed out as he started to usher me out of the house, without even bothering to let me change. He dismissed my protests that I needed to look presentable, by reminding me that Molly, as she liked to tell me, had changed my nappy when I was a baby.

We walked to short distance between our homes, side by side. I glanced down at our joined hands as they swung between us and releasing that Charlie had been looking at me curiously, I raised my eyes to his and gave him a reassuring smile.

"It's nothing," I insisted and he smiled, raising our joined hands to press a kiss to the back of my hand.

When we arrived at the burrow, we headed inside without bothering to knock on the door. And before I could make a detour to the kitchen, as I normally would have, I took a hold of Charlie's arm. He glanced at me curiously.

"Wish me luck?"

He grinned, pressing a kiss to my forehead, "Good luck, love."

"Trust me, I'm going to need it."

He was clearly amused by my words but I made no comment on his amusement as I headed into the kitchen. I paused in the doorway and took a moment to steady myself. When I was composed, I stepped into the kitchen and my eyes instantly went to the woman who had her back to me as she cooked.

"Is there room for one more?" I asked tentatively.

Molly turned instantly at the sound of my voice. Her eyes roved across my figure before she rushed towards me to take me in her arms, "There's always room for you."

I returned her hug wholeheartedly, "I'm glad."

She drew back from me a little, keeping me at arm's length. "Merlin, look at you. Do you have any idea the amount of heartache you've caused me, young lady? I understand you and Charlie broke up but you could have still come and seen us – we're family, aren't we?"

"We are." I said a little shamefaced.

Molly smiled warmly, dropping her pretend annoyance, "Godric am I glad that you and Charlie are back together again – I was beginning to worry about whether or not he was ever going to settle down."

"I'm sorry –"

"Don't be silly," she dismissed as she looked over me again. "I knew that becoming a healer would run you ragged. But Merlin, just look at you – you've lost so much weight." She frowned. "How long are you here for? Your mother and I are going to have to put some meat on your bones."

I smiled, feeling more than a little relieved that she didn't resent me for breaking up with Charlie. "I'm here for a few weeks." Brushing my hair behind my ear, I asked, "That's enough time, isn't it?"

Molly frowned openly, staring at my hand as she murmured, "That's more than enough time."

"Mrs Weasley?"

Brining herself out of her thoughts, Molly crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, "So when did Charlie ask you to marry him then?"

"I –" I cleared my throat, "How did you know?"

"The ring on your finger dear, it's a dead giveaway." She pursed her lips a little, "Well?"

I fiddle with said ring as I avoided her eyes, "A couple of weeks ago. We thought that we'd delayed things long enough," I trailed off uncertainly.

Molly eyed me closely before taking me in another crushing hug, "Do you know how long I've been waiting to actually be able to call you my daughter-in-law and for it to be true?"

I patted her back slowly, "So does this mean that Charlie's not in trouble then?"

"I didn't say that. He's in _a lot_ of trouble."

"And me?" I bit my lip as she pulled away. "Am I in trouble?"

"You could never be in trouble." She smoothed my hair back. "You're my favourite."


End file.
